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Those lovely people who are looking to see what has come out the Bex Designs

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Well, as you can see here my mum decided to snap lots of pictures of me opening my christmas present that I got from my mum, dad, my sister and brother in law and my late Grandma who unfortunately passed away 2 weeks before christmas so that is also why there have been no blog updates for a while. We had the funeral and I had some time with my family.

The Big Shot Pro was the surprise that I received and I could not have been more shocked. The family all wound me up and so the first thing that I opened up was a stack of 12 x 12 cardstock which believe me was some lovely paper, then my brother in law said he needed a break and then came back saying there was another present with no name on it. In comes this massive box brought in my dad and brother in law and well there it was. I was so totally overwhelmed that yes I did cry, who wouldn't. There you are just one of the lovely presents that I received. It will be very used, that I can tell you.

One of the other gorgeous presents I received was a beautiful ring from my husband. Here is a picture of it

Anyway, off to use my new toy and hopefully put pictures up of some of the newest creations that I am going to make. There seems to be quite a few birthdays to celebrate in January.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

I am a member of a group on ebay and so one of the things that we did just before Christmas was to make a calender. The instructions were posted by one of the other members and so this was how mine turned out and was sent as a present to one of the other members.

I think some of you are going to think I am LOTV crazy and you would be right of course. This was made using an A4 piece of card folded in half and then decorated with DCWV paper from the perfect purples design. I then made the little pocket which the calender attached to and inside placed a matching card and packet of seeds. I coloured Emmas Cupcakes with promarkers and it just fitted into an A5 envelope.

Well, I didn't manage to get Christmas cards sent out to everyone this year but I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Happy 2012. I did however get 2 special cards made that had been ordered and also 2 cards for each of the girls with tags to go with them. All of them I used were Lili of the Valley and the sentiments as well.

The above two cards were made for my sister and brother in law for each other and as they like kissing and also going on walks, these two Lili of the Valley stamps were perfect. The top card used LOTV 'On the way' and the backing paper was from a load of DCWV christmas paper that I had ordered about 5 years ago. The bottom card used LOTV Under the Mistletoe, One of the verses from the A5 LOTV sentiments and the backing paper was also from DCWV. I used my Promarkers to colour in the images and some christmas sparkle that I had got free from one of the Card Magazines.

The above two cards were made for my two little stars. Phoebe is a little dancer and so the LOTV stamp really suited her character and the other was for Chloe and as it was her 1st Christmas I thought reaching for the stars was a really lovely one. The backing paper I used was one called Winter Wonderland that I had got free with a magazine and was so beautiful and the colours that I wanted. I used the cuttlebug to die cut the tags for the cards and also for the snowflake in the background. I used promarkers to colour them in and also christmas sparkle for the snow underfeet which I got as a free gift from a card magazine. I then added peel offs to say what I wanted. I made the tags the same way and did them so they matched the cards. Made it a little fun for them on christmas day.

I made the tags using the LOTV stamps that I had used for the cards as I wanted them to be a bit special.

Anyway, that is just a little for now and I am going to go up put up my new christmas present and will add photos from Christmas day of the unwrapping of my Big Shot Pro. So excited

Thursday, 8 December 2011

I did this card for my mum and dad for my sister, she has really been trying to get into patchwork and so my mum asked if there was something I could do to incorporate that into a design. I used DCWV piece of cake paper pack and made lots of little squares and stuck these to a square sheet. I then cut out the pattern using Creative Memories Wavy cutting system. The sentiments are stamped using Lili of the Valley and papermania female words.

My sister is so talented and loves to make cupcakes. I made this shaped card especially for her. For the bottom of the cupcake, I took a strip of paper and at every 1/2" I scored the paper. This created the concertina effect cupcake wrapper at the bottom of the card. I also used the lili of the Valley sentiments stamp and glitter glue for the embellishment on the top section of the card for the cake decoration

This card was from my two daughters and so I wanted it to be a bit child like, I am hoping that my eldest will want to do her own card next year as she loves to do things like that. I used the Penny Black Zoophabet stamps and coloured them in using Promarkers.

This card was done for my other sister to give her and she is at present in South Africa. I used DCWV piece of cake paper for the backing and then used Lili of the Valley Rosie's cake stamp and the birthday recipe stamp from them, as well. I coloured the image in using Promarkers. I love those stamps, they are my 'one weakness'

Just a little something different, as this was the cake that I made for her birthday.

This was a card that I made for my sisters Fiance for his 30th. He has a big thing for custard and so I thought it would be a cool idea to incorporate the design of a custard pack with an actual pack of custard that he could later use.

I made this using Creative Memories cardstock, and the Creative Memories wavy edge cutter to create the backing effect. The writing was made using the Sizzix Big Top alphabet and I did this to try and do the Logo on the fiance.

I have been thinking of submitting this as a piece of work for my course and so any comments would be really appreciated.

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Well, here I am again. Sorry, as always there is a gap between posts. Not due to lack of cardmaking but problems with trying to upload pictures from my phone. This card is my 2nd attempt at an easel card but it was a birthday card for my sister from her new husband who very kindly asked me to do a birthday card for her. I wanted to do something really special and so I decided to try and create a card with the added bonus of a starbucks gift card for the coffee addict within her, especially as they love going out for coffee together.

I had so much fun trying to adapt this card, I originally was going to do just a coffee cup shaped card but couldn't really see how to do anything much with it. I then came up with the idea of doing the easel card and instead of doing a plain square for the back panel, I decided to do a coffee cup. I used layers of decoupage to create the dimensional look and found a way to incorporate the gift card into the coffee cup.

As the bottom needs to have something for the whole card to keep it's shape, I chose to to use my sister's favourite cake and put a plate on the bottom. To make the plate have a bit of dimension, I decoupaged it but also I added a bit of distressing to the edge of the plate and this was my 1st attempt at distressing.

The papers that I used in this card were from the Forever Friends For You collection, and the Die Cut With A View Snack Stack paper.

I hope you like it and would really appreciate your comments as am submitting it for one of my pieces for my Unit 3 that I am doing.

Monday, 17 October 2011

I had a lovely email from my beautiful younger sister to say that she wanted some more named cards, 8 to be exact and 12 thank you cards for the speakers that are coming in too speak to them. So here they are, hope you like the treats, I certainly hope her team will like them come there birthdays.

All the writing that is on the cards is Sizzix Broadway Melody used through the Cuttlebug.

The Thank you cards above were all made using the doodling template from Creative Memories and drew the shapes using the Creative Memories fine black tip pen and then coloured in the outlines with a black felt tip pen. The writing was done using Sizzix Broadway Melody through the Cuttlebug. The butterfly was punched using the Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly punch and the stars were done using The Creative Memories star Punch 3/4 amd 1inch shapes.

This thank you card was done again with the doodling template along the edge and a thank you stamp that was my mum's. The 4 sqaure stamp is from The Craft Barn and created by Craftworks. I then colored the background sing Sky Blue Promarker.

This card was for Becky who my sister told me was slightly older an dwas cool and funky. So I decided to use the denim paper from DCVW funky vintage collection. I also used the sewing mannequin from Tim Holtz.

The next was for Pete who is going to be 50, as you can tell from the card. I stamped the 5 and the 0 with the Craft companions numbers and then covered it with sheets from the Complete Boy collection by My Minds Eye.

This card was made for someone who is not into sport and so I went along the music lines. This was stamped using the papermania pastimes and the paper is from My Mind's Eye complete boy collection. I coloured the image in using Promarkers.

This one was made for a girly girl and what girl is not into shoes and pink. I used the paper for the backing from Born to Shop Bubbles collection. The iimage is from Lili of the Valley and is Emma's New Shoes and the sentiment is also from Lili of the Valley. She is coloured in using Promarkers.

This card uses backing paper from DCVW funky vintage and the stamped image is from LadybugInkCrafts and is Nikki's Ride. She is coloured in using Promarkers. The sentiment is from Lily of the Valley.

The above 2 cards used the walking image from Papermania Pastimes and coloured in using Promarkers. The paper is from My Mind's Eye complete boy collection and the edging is done using the Martha Stewart Scalloped edge punch.

This card was made using the football backing paper from the Forever Friends For Him collection. I used the football image from the Papermania Pastimes stamps and coloured in using Promarkers.

I can't believe it, I passed my Unit 1 for the Certificate in Papercraft first time. I was so excited and the feedback that I received was really positive and the suggestions that were put to me will definately be put into practice as they were really really helpful. Things that are so easily achieved but will have a massive impact on the future cards that I will make. Thank you Jackie for that. Well, I have a few orders in the pipeline, but Unit 3 & 4 are calling as well and now I can't wait to do them, Hopefully, I will be able to keep up the good work. I will be putting some pictures up soon of some of the other cards that I did for my sister in South Africa and sent there. Again, once i can get them off my phone.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

Here you go as promised, unfortuately I am not able to use my craft room this weekend so thought that I would have some time updating my blog and putting on some of the designs I have been busy doing over the summer. Back in June, I told you that both my sisters and my now brother-in-law were graduating so these were the cards that I did for them. My sister and her now husband were also getting married in July and they asked me to design the wedding invitations and also the order of services so here are the photos which I thankfully managed to get from my camera.

This card was made with my sister in my mind as at school she was a bit of a ragamuffin but we are so proud of her. I did this for my mum and dad for her hence it has daughter on it. The school girl was from Lili of the Valley and the graduate is from Magnolia Graduate Tilda. I had a lot of fun making this I made a similar one for my other sister who also graduated and needed cards as well.

The best thing that I love about making cards is how personal they really can be made. As I had the honour of making the order of services, I thought I would add a personal touch to their special day by personalising their order of services. To make the order of services, I used pearlescent card from AnneMarieDesigns.co.uk that was prefolded and came with inserts and envelopes. The writing was done using Sizzix Broadway Melody Font and attached using 3D sticky foam pads. The stamp was from The Wild Rose Studio and the embossed heart was from the 4 set of hearts from cuttlebug. The ribbon we bought at the Stitch and Craft show at Olympia back in March. The date stamp was from Lili of the Valley calender stamp.

This was a 3D notelet set that I did as a birthday present for my mum from my 2 girls. It was my 2nd attempt at doing it but I am so pleased how it turned out. I have submitted this as my 3D object for unit 1. I used the new range of tatty teddy to make it.

This was made for my younger sisters 21st birthday and I made it out of wrapping paper and my cuttlebug. The numbers were done by drawing around wheelie bin numbers and the font I used was Sizzix Broadway Melody. I have submitted this as the card aspect of unit 1.

This was just one of the scrapbook pages that I did for my sisters 21st birthday scrapbook. She is a grade 8 singer and for the London Pentecost Week in 2008 she was asked to sing for a show. It was done at Cafe Eterno in Covent Garden and the whole show was called Shoes. It was about a woman whose life had been totally upside down, she had been on drugs, prostitution and self harming. God spoke to her at one of the lowest times in her life and she came to know Him as her Saviour. She cleaned her life up and she found love. She had been told she would never be able to have children because of things that had happened when she was younger but after getting married, they discovered that she was pregnant and was having twins. The story was so powerful and before it was told, there was a musical aspect to it. It showed the powerful struggle between good and bad and the main song was called Shoes by Nia(a Walsh singer) if you ever get to hear it.

The page below is the whole of what I did for her but I only need to submit 1 page so the top ones are the page that I picked.

As some of you know, In June I started the Certificate in Papercraft done by the Craft Qualifications Centre. I am so pleased to tell you that I am nearly finished with Unit 1 and here are some of the pieces of work that I a submitting. Unit 1 entails submitting a card, a 3D object, a scrapbook layout, ATC's, or another type of papercraft.

About Me

Hi there, my name is Beckie Dotson and as you can see from my blog, I just love to make cards. I am married to Darren and we have 2 gorgeous daughters. Phoebe and Chloe who are our pride and joys. I have been making cards properly for about 3 years and I have been a Creative Memories Consultant for 6 years. I love the land of blogging and I am making some amazing new friends who are very all very talented. Please check out their blogs too. Love Bex xx